- knot
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I. noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English cnotta; akin to Old High German knoto knot
Date: before 12th century
1.
a. an interlacement of the parts of one or more flexible bodies forming a lump or knob (as for fastening or tying together)
b. the lump or knob so formed
c. a tight constriction or the sense of constriction <my stomach was all in knots> 2. something hard to solve ; problem <a matter full of legal knots> 3. a bond of union; especially the marriage bond 4. a. a protuberant lump or swelling in tissue <a knot in a gland> b. the base of a woody branch enclosed in the stem from which it arises; also its section in lumber 5. a cluster of persons or things ; group 6. an ornamental bow of ribbon ; cockade 7. a. a division of the log's line serving to measure a ship's speed b. (1) one nautical mile per hour (2) one nautical mile — not used technically 8. a closed curve in three-dimensional space II. verb (knotted; knotting) Date: 1547 transitive verb 1. to tie in or with a knot ; form knots in 2. to unite closely or intricately ; entangle 3. tie 4b <knotted the score> intransitive verb to form knots • knotter noun III. noun (plural knots or knot) Etymology: Middle English knott Date: 15th century either of two sandpipers (Calidris canutus and C. tenuirostris) that breed in the Arctic and winter in temperate or warm parts of the New and Old World
New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.